The Los Angeles Dodgers are trading reliever Ryan Brasier to the Chicago Cubs, per MLB insider Jeff Passan.

Brasier was designated for assignment last week in order to make room for newly-acquired reliever Kirby Yates on the 40-man roster.

Yates was considered one of the top relievers in this winter’s free agent class. He formerly played for the Texas Rangers where he produced a 1.17 ERA across 61 appearances last season.

Brasier, 37, is a reliable arm in the bullpen but he emerged as the odd man out once the Dodgers acquired Yates. The defending champions were shopping Brasier, but appeared to get no traction, so L.A. proceeded to designate the veteran for assignment. Now, he joins an NL contender in the Cubs.

Brasier signed a two-year contract with the Dodgers last offseason. He joined the Dodgers in the middle of the 2023 season after being cut by the Boston Red Sox.

The veteran is owed $4.5 million this season and enters his final year of team control. He dealt with multiple injuries last season, appearing in just 29 games, but produced a 3.54 ERA in 2024.

The Dodgers will enter the 2025 campaign with a strengthened pitching staff, giving the team a six-man rotation and a seven-man bullpen. If all Dodgers relievers are healthy entering the season, the bullpen will likely look something like this: Yates, Tanner Scott, Blake Treinen, Alex Vesia, Anthony Banda, Michael Kopech, and Evan Phillips.

Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said the team would be employing a similar strategy from 2024 in terms of how they will manage their late-game bullpen. At Scott’s introductory press conference, Gomes hinted toward the Dodgers going based off matchups rather than having a dedicated closer.

“I think Tanner is going to get a ton of opportunities to close games,” Gomes said. “But the biggest thing is how it fits together to handle the back end. I think the main focus will be how best do we put that bullpen together down the stretch for Doc to figure out how he’s going to deploy guys.”